Menu
Winners of the Putnam County Visual Arts Exhibition announced
The fifth-annual Putnam County Visual Arts Exhibition, organized by the Greencastle Arts Council in collaboration with the Putnam County Museum, concludes with the announcement of its annual prize winners. With award funds totaling more than $1,750, in addition to first- and second-place and a people’s choice award, a Museum Purchase Prize also allowed PCM to add a significant new work to its permanent collection.
The first-place prize, including a check for $350, was presented to Chi Nguyen, a senior studio art major at DePauw University. Her award-winning Dye-na-flow painting on muslin, “Đám,” pays tribute to her uncle. The piece depicts a death anniversary dinner, where the family gathers to commemorate the loved one who has passed away.
Nguyen was in school at the time of her uncle’s death and unable to return for his memorial. The recognition the work received felt deeply personal. Nguyen recalls, “I cried out of happiness.”
In an unprecedented and unanimous decision, Gwen Morris, vice president of the PCM Board of Directors, also presented this year’s Purchase Prize to Nguyen. Serendipitously, the combined award funds will allow Chi to purchase airfare for a visit home to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, at the end of the semester.
The second-place prize of $250, presented by Arts Council president Suzanne Hassler, was awarded to photographer Alan Sockloff of Greencastle for his silver gelatin print “Crushed Bale #37.” Sockloff, whose work often depicts abstractions of found objects, expressed surprise at winning an award for it. Despite the distinct technical proficiency evident in his richly detailed black and white prints, he said his subjects aren’t typically popular. The judges, however, felt the artist, who shows regularly in the annual exhibit, was deserving of recognition.
In terms of crowd pleasers, after audience ballots were tallied at the close of the show, the 2024 People’s Choice Award went to “Gentle Giants,” an acrylic painting depicting a team of Belgian horses by Beverly Best-Brown. A native of Putnam County, Best-Brown graduated from Greencastle High School, receiving her undergraduate degree from Indiana State University and master’s from DePauw. After having taught art for 35 years — in Indiana and Arizona — she just recently returned to her home state.
Artists receiving honorable mentions for their work were printmakers Deb Beck (“The Door”) and David Krauter (“Bridge”); ceramic artist Nancy Lovett (“Wood Ash Bottle Form”); mixed media artist Jennifer Herrold (“Catherine, Patron Saint of Artists”); and painter Alisa Smith (“Melons”).
The exhibit, co-chaired by fellow Arts Council board members Suzanne Hassler and Connie Wagner, included nearly 100 submissions — all from artists who have lived, worked, studied or were born in Putnam County. The organizers were especially pleased by the variety of media on display.
“When we walked into the exhibit space after the installation was completed and saw the show for the first time, we were totally awed. We knew it was going to be the largest show we had ever mounted, with the most work, but the exhibition committee and the artists themselves blew us away with what they had done.” Hassler recounted. “It takes a lot of people, working together, to make an event like this happen. We are so grateful to everyone involved, especially to the 49 individual artists who contributed original art to this year’s show.”
Among new participants submitting work for the first time were four artists from Putnam County Comprehensive Services, in addition to five artists from a pilot program at Putnamville Correctional Facility, whose participation was co-sponsored by IU-PAI and the Greencastle Arts Council.
The community collaborators were honored to have the show reviewed by adjudicators Steve Aker and Martha Opdahl, who were present to offer remarks during the awards presentation attended by about 80 guests. Hospitality for the event was provided by Angie Wood and the Arts Council’s events committee, and installation of the show was expertly handled by the museum’s exhibits committee, led by Opdahl with assistance from Jerry Bates, Gwen Morris, Kathryn Dory, Brad Alspaugh, Mickey Meehan, Warren Macy, Rita Schendel, Lynne Tweedie and Mary Zerkel — in addition to the unstinting support of PCM staff members Lisa Mock, Jody Matthews and Kathy Shigeta.
These activities were made possible in part by Arts Illiana and the Indiana Arts Commission, which receives support from the State of Indiana and the National Endowment for the Arts.
